On an expedition to find the mythical "Atlantis of the Sands" in the heart of the Arabian Desert, Nathan Drake and his partner, Victor Sullivan, encounter a deceptive organization led by a ruthless dictator. Terrible secrets unfold, causing Drake's quest to descend into a bid for survival.

Playing Uncharted 2 and 3 Back to Back- My Thoughts

Having not played Uncharted 2 when it came out, or even in 2010 (or 2011) for that matter, I decided to play Uncharted 2 and 3 back to back so I could easily see the differences between the two games and decide which one is better. I have noticed a lot of people, including the Giant Bomb crew, have stated they felt Uncharted 3 was great, but really just more of what they had played in Uncharted 2. After just finishing up 3, I have to say I think this opinion is very far from the truth, and here is why.

The Graphics: Yes, Uncharted 2 is a two year old game, but the improvement in the graphics and textures from 2-3 is a much bigger advancement than 1-2. Uncharted 2 looks good, but definitely shows its age, much more than i was expecting it to. Uncharted 3 looks as close to a pc game as I have seen a console game look.

The Story: Perhaps the best improvement, The story in Uncharted 3 is by far the best in the series. Besides the love triangle, Uncharted 2 felt like Uncharted 1's plot all over again. An extremely generic power hungry villain, after a mystical artifact that of course has terrible repercussions. Uncharted 3 brought in a villain that had personality and had a connection to Drake and Sully. You get to learn some awesome information about how Drake and Sully met, Drake's past, and the game gives all the characters a much more original feel. The story had a lot more feeling to it and made me care about what was going to happen next much more than in 2.

The Action: Maybe its just because Uncharted 2 did some things no other game had done before, but I came out of that game extremely disappointed in the lack of "wow" moments it had. Don't get me wrong, 2 did have its moments, but 3 was by far more impressive. The opening fight scene felt really dynamic, it flowed really well, and the animations of Drake grabbing objects and pushing guys out windows was really cool. The fire part was also awesome, along with the boat part. Naughty Dog did a lot of amazing things in the environment that I could honestly say I had never seen before in any other game. Climbing inside a boat that is side ways, blowing a boat up with a rocket launcher, riding on horse back after cars, escaping a burning building and hanging out the back of an airplane all stood out much more to me than anything in 2 did.

The Originality: Uncharted 3 had a few solid moments that the first two games did not have at all. It opens up with an awesome fist fight scene, you get to play a climbing based flashback of Drake's past, the hallucination scenes were interesting, and you spend about 15 minutes just walking in the desert. These all added to the gameplay variety and to the story and each time I thought it was really cool. Also, in most cases it was something I had not seen before in any other game.

The Sully Factor: One of my biggest complaints about Uncharted 2 was the lack of Sully! Honestly why did Naughty Dog decide to remove him from 80% of the game? He is such a central part of the series and is such a great character. It was so nice to see him be in the majority of 3. Also, the fact that the story centered around Drake and Sully's relationship was also really cool.

I came out of Uncharted 2 having enjoyed the game, but feeling disappointed and mislead by it being a GOTY winner. Uncharted 3 was the game that really made me say "thats fucking awesome" as I was playing it. I am quite surprised Giant Bomb, particularly Ryan and Brad, threw it out of their GOTY top 10 so easily by saying it was just more of what Uncharted 2 had already done. That is really not the case at all. Uncharted 3 is the superior game in a lot of ways. It does many things Uncharted 2 did not do and actually made me want them to make a fourth game. Maybe its just because people haven't played Uncharted 2 in 2 years that they can't see how different these two games are in terms of what Naughty Dog was able to accomplish.

Having not played Uncharted 2 when it came out, or even in 2010 (or 2011) for that matter, I decided to play Uncharted 2 and 3 back to back so I could easily see the differences between the two games and decide which one is better. I have noticed a lot of people, including the Giant Bomb crew, have stated they felt Uncharted 3 was great, but really just more of what they had played in Uncharted 2. After just finishing up 3, I have to say I think this opinion is very far from the truth, and here is why.

The Graphics: Yes, Uncharted 2 is a two year old game, but the improvement in the graphics and textures from 2-3 is a much bigger advancement than 1-2. Uncharted 2 looks good, but definitely shows its age, much more than i was expecting it to. Uncharted 3 looks as close to a pc game as I have seen a console game look.

The Story: Perhaps the best improvement, The story in Uncharted 3 is by far the best in the series. Besides the love triangle, Uncharted 2 felt like Uncharted 1's plot all over again. An extremely generic power hungry villain, after a mystical artifact that of course has terrible repercussions. Uncharted 3 brought in a villain that had personality and had a connection to Drake and Sully. You get to learn some awesome information about how Drake and Sully met, Drake's past, and the game gives all the characters a much more original feel. The story had a lot more feeling to it and made me care about what was going to happen next much more than in 2.

The Action: Maybe its just because Uncharted 2 did some things no other game had done before, but I came out of that game extremely disappointed in the lack of "wow" moments it had. Don't get me wrong, 2 did have its moments, but 3 was by far more impressive. The opening fight scene felt really dynamic, it flowed really well, and the animations of Drake grabbing objects and pushing guys out windows was really cool. The fire part was also awesome, along with the boat part. Naughty Dog did a lot of amazing things in the environment that I could honestly say I had never seen before in any other game. Climbing inside a boat that is side ways, blowing a boat up with a rocket launcher, riding on horse back after cars, escaping a burning building and hanging out the back of an airplane all stood out much more to me than anything in 2 did.

The Originality: Uncharted 3 had a few solid moments that the first two games did not have at all. It opens up with an awesome fist fight scene, you get to play a climbing based flashback of Drake's past, the hallucination scenes were interesting, and you spend about 15 minutes just walking in the desert. These all added to the gameplay variety and to the story and each time I thought it was really cool. Also, in most cases it was something I had not seen before in any other game.

The Sully Factor: One of my biggest complaints about Uncharted 2 was the lack of Sully! Honestly why did Naughty Dog decide to remove him from 80% of the game? He is such a central part of the series and is such a great character. It was so nice to see him be in the majority of 3. Also, the fact that the story centered around Drake and Sully's relationship was also really cool.

I came out of Uncharted 2 having enjoyed the game, but feeling disappointed and mislead by it being a GOTY winner. Uncharted 3 was the game that really made me say "thats fucking awesome" as I was playing it. I am quite surprised Giant Bomb, particularly Ryan and Brad, threw it out of their GOTY top 10 so easily by saying it was just more of what Uncharted 2 had already done. That is really not the case at all. Uncharted 3 is the superior game in a lot of ways. It does many things Uncharted 2 did not do and actually made me want them to make a fourth game. Maybe its just because people haven't played Uncharted 2 in 2 years that they can't see how different these two games are in terms of what Naughty Dog was able to accomplish.

I think the fact that I still haven't finished Uncharted 3 says enough for me. Uncharted 3 is a great game, but when 2 came out, it was non-stop mind blowing action.

I feel like 3's opening isn't as strong as 2's. The train sequence sets the mood for the whole game, it has a much more desperate feel that set the tone for the whole game. You know things are going to real desperate and real bad.

I think Sully also bowing out adds to that feel. They pal around in the first game having lighthearted adventures, and in 2, Sully sees how bad this is. He knows that he could very will get killed and that it wasn't worth the risk. You knew that you were in deep shit.

You could easily dismiss anything I've said though ( because I still haven't finished it ), but I think I've played it enough to get the idea. I'll finish it soon and get back to you. Uncharted 2 was just such an event to many people, and you'll have a hard time telling them otherwise. Also, I did play 2 through again about two months before 3.

I love the Uncharted series but something definitely feels off about 3. I really want to finish it for the story but don't want to actually play it. The combat just kills me as the shooting is not great and baddies are the definition of 'bullet sponges'. Maybe I'll go back to it soon but for the time I've spent it's been a huge disappointment compared to 2.

@CounterShock: I didn't feel like 2 had anymore action than 1 did to me. Also I don't think their adventure in 2 was more dangerous than 1, it was pretty much the same. I think my problem must be I played Uncharted 3 2 months after it came out, and I played 2 2 years after it came out. Maybe I would have liked 2 better if I had played it back in 09.

@boshjoyer: Interesting, I felt like 'bullet sponges' were the blue guys in Uncharted 2 and the rest of the enemies were about the same as they were in 3. Though it was stupid to fight the "brutes" over and over with the same melee animations.

@GetEveryone: How is the plot piece meal? You are saying you did not enjoy learning about Drake's past and did not appreciate that the villain was actually a character rather than a generic action movie stand-in? I do agree that it is really stupid they ditch chloe and cutter 1/3 of the way through the game, but they did the same thing to sully in 2. I just didn't see what was so incredible about 2, you don't really do anything that is that cool.

I wish I had played 2 when it came out, I wonder if I would agree with you guys had that been the case.

I the only thing I agree with there is the being appreciative for having more Sully, and I also played through Uncharted 2 whilst playing through Uncharted 3 as well - mainly to contend that the shooting was initially much worse in Uncharted 3 before the patch, but all the same I would still much more go through Uncharted 2 again than Uncharted 3.

For starters the story isn't very good because it wasn't developed; characters just disappear from the story never to return (I know why Cutter had to be... cut..., but that doesn't make it any less of a let down), Marlowe is a nobody who hardly managed to push me forward and make me want to actually hunt her down and stop her, Talbot's mysteriousness not being explained felt like a cop-out for the sake of rushing the game out of there, Ramses and the entire pirate section was completely pointless, and the whole underlining theme of making Nate suffer for his arrogance for constantly putting his friends through danger had zero pay-off. The flashback stuff was at least OK, as the was the desert section - but that was also a little too short I think.

The set-pieces weren't as great either for me; the train section from Uncharted 2 is still the best combination of great shooting and climatic action the series has delivered. The fighting scenes were pretty good to begin with, but they repeat them so often (and you face that same brute so many times) that they lost their luster and became tedious. The cargo plane set-piece was pretty great, though, especially the part where you're just hanging onto the box as you float down. The cruise ship was also impressive from a technical stand-point, but wasn't very fun to play because of how many guys the game threw at you during that segment.

And as for originality, that most of all I really don't see. The fight scenes were a unique addition, but were watered down for their frequency, and while the desert section was great, it wasn't entirely unlike Nate in the village for Uncharted 2 - the action at a stand still, as you go around shaking the peoples hands and patting bulls on the arse. Some of the set-pieces weren't all that original; the one where you're riding on horseback (which with the lack of manoeuvrability made it incredibly frustrating to play should you accidentally ride past a truck without the ability to turn around) was iterative of the truck-leaping scene from Uncharted 2, as was the ending on quickly finding some secret city, then running away as it begins to crumble.

Overall Uncharted 3 was the most disappointing game of last year for me. It didn't wow me like its predecessor did, not even close , and all it left me feeling with was a desire to play through Uncharted 2. Better villains (Harry Flynn on his own completely trumps the trio from Uncharted 3), better set-pieces, better developed characters (even if the lack of Sully was a damn shame), and Uncharted 2 at its prime wowed everyone because it was unheard of for a game to feature so many incredible set-pieces that you can play through. Uncharted 3 felt more like it was just following the formula and didn't make any enough improvements for it not to stand out as Uncharted 2: the lesser Uncharted 2.

EDIT: Also I've literally just woke up like 10 minutes ago, so forgive me if it's all a little messy =X

@Abyssfull: You bring up some really good issues with the game I had not thought about. They do leave a lot of points untouched, like how you mention that there is zero consequences for Drake putting his friends and himself in constant danger even though it seemed like they had been building up to that. Also I was waiting for them to say why the spiders were in the game, but they never did and that was a disappointment (mostly because I fucking hate spiders and wanted to know why I had to be chased by them multiple times in the game). I figured they would be related to the hidden city, or at least resurface there, but they never did. Also I do agree Harry Flynn was a more fleshed out villain, but they just had way to many run-ins with him and then escaped, and I kinda got sick of him pointing a gun at Drake and saying some cocky line over and over. To be fair, Drake and his crew getting caught and having to "throw away" there weapons happens way to often in all the games, its quite a cliche.

I just think I cared about the characters more in 3 than I did in 2. The love triangle was pretty much solved about half way through the game and then after that there really was nothing to look forward to in terms of surprising plot elements. 3 did kinda fail at bringing everything together at the end, but I at least appreciated their attempt to try to develop Drake more as a character and the stuff you learn about his life made me understand that he has his reasons for wanting to be a great explorer.

Anyway, after reading what you have to say I can understand how people see 2 to be the better game.

Overall Uncharted 3 was the most disappointing game of last year for me. It didn't wow me like its predecessor did, not even close , and all it left me feeling with was a desire to play through Uncharted 2. Better villains (Harry Flynn on his own completely trumps the trio from Uncharted 3), better set-pieces, better developed characters (even if the lack of Sully was a damn shame), and Uncharted 2 at its prime wowed everyone because it was unheard of for a game to feature so many incredible set-pieces that you can play through. Uncharted 3 felt more like it was just following the formula and didn't make any enough improvements for it not to stand out as Uncharted 2: the lesser Uncharted 2.

This too.

While I agree that more Sully was a great addition, less Chloe was a big stab to this game, and I felt that the abrupt disappearance of the new ally Cutter with her for the rest of the game brought up more questions than answers. The villains also seemed less...impressive, with Marlowe just being behind-the-scenes and Talbot being an abrupt and unnecessary front for her schemes. Also, fuck the pirate section. That was literally painful to play through.

The set-pieces were cool, and I didn't have that much of a problem. The only problem that I had was "fuck the pirate section". Swimming "stealthily", navigating the shipyard, dealing with the cruise ship's minions (and the armoured machine-gunner in the cage match) all took a huge toll on my motivation to finish the game. I stopped after it and took a long break.

Combat was ruined, unusually, by what was probably the feature designed to change the game the most. QTE fight sequences forcibly engaged by kamikaze guys drew you out of cover and an inability to break causes you to get gunned down very quickly on Hard or Crushing. Extremely unnecessary and extremely aggravating. Brutes were a pain in the arse, but not terrible to deal with. The fights with them did become too repetitive for me to actually have fun with them by the lategame.

The biggest deficiency that this game had for me, however, was the lack of the little easter eggs like the unlockable skin changes for single-player. That was a complete farce and demolished all motivation I had to play this game again.

@CJduke said:

@boshjoyer: Interesting, I felt like 'bullet sponges' were the blue guys in Uncharted 2 and the rest of the enemies were about the same as they were in 3. Though it was stupid to fight the "brutes" over and over with the same melee animations.

@GetEveryone: How is the plot piece meal? You are saying you did not enjoy learning about Drake's past and did not appreciate that the villain was actually a character rather than a generic action movie stand-in? I do agree that it is really stupid they ditch chloe and cutter 1/3 of the way through the game, but they did the same thing to sully in 2. I just didn't see what was so incredible about 2, you don't really do anything that is that cool.

The bullet-sponge distinction breaks once you play on Hard or Crushing of either game, as pretty much all enemies take far too long to kill at that point.

Drake's past was fine, but I didn't particularly care for his run-in with Marlowe, and didn't understand what really provoked Sully to "go rogue", since he appeared to get along so well with Marlowe. Even if it was a front, still... Marlowe was a weak villain IMO. Too much tactician, not enough execution, unlike Lazarevic and Navarro, who actually got personally involved. Talbot was just annoying and not nearly as deep as Flynn. I didn't really think that this did anything "cooler" than Uncharted 2, unless you like tripping on shit and watching Drake do the same. Maybe the desert. Maybe.

@CJduke said:

I just think I cared about the characters more in 3 than I did in 2. The love triangle was pretty much solved about half way through the game and then after that there really was nothing to look forward to in terms of surprising plot elements. 3 did kinda fail at bringing everything together at the end, but I at least appreciated their attempt to try to develop Drake more as a character and the stuff you learn about his life made me understand that he has his reasons for wanting to be a great explorer.

The love triangle was only solved because the other interest vanished without a trace! That was a COMPLETE joke. Also, I recall several instances where Drake reflects on the ring and Sir Francis Drake as being his impetus for doing what he does. The game does flesh that out more, by describing how he came to have the ring in the first place.

Uncharted 3 was my most disappointing game of last year. I dreaded finishing it, I was bored halfway into it, I was pissed that Chloe was gone, I was annoyed at the combat system, I was pissed at the removal of extras, and fuck the pirate section.

I think uncharted 3 is a better game than 2 and they are my 2 favourite games of this generation of consoles. and @CJduke if you had have played 2 when it came out you would have been expecting the universe with 3, like most people did

I'm glad you enjoyed it, but saying that Uncharted 2 is showing it's age is crazy. Having just popped that game in, it looks just as good now, compared to any modern release or even Uncharted 3, as it did the day it came out. Meaning it still looks stunning.

Uncharted 3's co-op is fantastic if you ever want to play that sometime. My PSN is Valgresas. Uncharted 3 has some great stuff but overall I think the biggest weakness is its just 3-4 hours shorter; also I really love the train level in Uncharted 2 and there isn't really anything that's an equivalent in Uncharted 3 (or any other game).

Competitive multiplayer is hampered in both games by one shot sniper rifles.

Also I stand by my original post, Uncharted 3 is undoubtedly one of the most disappointing games across the entire generation, and it's my least favourite Uncharted game. Multiplayer/coop was a lot of fun, though.

I'm with the OP here. I love Uncharted 3 the best by far out of the series. The thing that really hurts the first two games for me is the third act supernatural bullshit that goes on in both those games. In both Uncharted 1 and 2, that crap is just so unneeded and actually takes away from the good human drama. I loved the rivalry between Nate and Flynn in Uncharted 2, but the blue gorilla men killed that drama. The first game was even worse. Here we have this well-told, grounded tale (well, aside from Nate being able to wipe out so many armed enemies. But hey, welcome to video games) of adventure. Then all of a sudden, it takes some janky left turn into survival horror? What? Why? I actually hated the first game for that.

The third game makes you think it's going in that direction, but it just turns out to be a hallucination. It keeps the focus on the human drama between Nate and Sully, and keeps that rivalry with Marlowe and Talbot without adding in some distracting supernatural crap.

I'm with the OP here. I love Uncharted 3 the best by far out of the series. The thing that really hurts the first two games for me is the third act supernatural bullshit that goes on in both those games. In both Uncharted 1 and 2, that crap is just so unneeded and actually takes away from the good human drama. I loved the rivalry between Nate and Flynn in Uncharted 2, but the blue gorilla men killed that drama. The first game was even worse. Here we have this well-told, grounded tale (well, aside from Nate being able to wipe out so many armed enemies. But hey, welcome to video games) of adventure. Then all of a sudden, it takes some janky left turn into survival horror? What? Why? I actually hated the first game for that.

The third game makes you think it's going in that direction, but it just turns out to be a hallucination. It keeps the focus on the human drama between Nate and Sully, and keeps that rivalry with Marlowe and Talbot without adding in some distracting supernatural crap.

The supernatural stuff was just a clear throwback to the Indiana Jones films. Y'know, the primary inspiration for the games -- besides Tomb Raider anyway.

They are both some of the best games I have played this gen but Uncharted 3 was not as good for me because there were points where I felt they threw way too many enemies at me. All of the enemies were just skins of each other. Of course this might be because there were multiple factions you fight in 3 compared to 2. Both have incredible graphics, dialogue and action though.

Uncharted 3's co-op is fantastic if you ever want to play that sometime. My PSN is Valgresas. Uncharted 3 has some great stuff but overall I think the biggest weakness is its just 3-4 hours shorter; also I really love the train level in Uncharted 2 and there isn't really anything that's an equivalent in Uncharted 3 (or any other game).

Competitive multiplayer is hampered in both games by one shot sniper rifles.

I sunk countless hours into Uncharted 3's co-op. I actually played both of these games to completion 5 times each, and while Uncharted 2 is probably the better game, I really loved the Stowaway level in 3. Like for both of the Uncharteds' I went in knowing nothing of them other than there was a train you hang from in the beginning. And I actually felt some emotions during the Sully portions later in the game. I also liked the musical score and setting slightly better than 2's.

I'm not gonna elaborate on any of this other than saying i completely disagree with everything in the OP.

I don't much care about the multiplayer but every single aspect of the single player is superior in Uncharted 2, graphics included. You can see where they had to cut corners in 3 for the sake of implementing 3D. The game is also a lot rougher around the edges compared to 2. Visually, at it's best 3 looks better than 2 and at it's worst it looks worst than 1. It's extremely uneven. The part in Syria at night is dreadful.

I thought they ruined the melee combat in Uncharted 3. Uncharted 2 was simple, but it made you feel cool. The cinematic slow down you get right before you dodge a punch only to counter attack was something that never got old. Uncharted 3 felt like they tried to streamline something that was already perfect for a shooter. I also didn't like how they put in fist fight set pieces into the game, I liked when they sort of just happened in Uncharted 2.

Uncharted 3 isn't BAD, but it doesn't come close to 2 I think. For some reason 3 just loses characters halfway through, and it leaves a lot of story open. Call Uncharted 2's story cliche, but at least it didn't have as many glaring plot holes.

Uncharted 2 also has the train level, and not a single thing in ALL of Uncharted 3 comes close to that sequence. It's so good. Not to mention Uncharted 3 doesn't have any tangible monsters, the closest thing is a damn hallucination. 1 had those nazi zombie things, 2 had those blue men. In 3 they just pulled an MGS4 and took one of the biggest parts of the game out for no reason.

Had a real blast with Uncharted 2 back in the day and enjoyed the third one as well on the first playthrough, but thinking back to it, it sure could've been more different from the second one. That desert part was easily the best part of it, while the collapsing city in the end was probably the worst, if only because it felt way too similiar to the ending of U2.

I agree with you duder, Uncharted 3 is a much better game. The thing I didn't care for all that much is that the story opens so strong in 3 then stumbles in the second half. Drake spent too much time alone, the thing I love about him is the great banter he has with other characters. That is completely lost for a good chunk of the game during the boat sections and during the desert part. Even so, overall the story, set pieces and game play are better in 3 than in 2.

That said I actually feel Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the best game in the series, I recommend you check it out if you have a Vita.

I'm with the OP here. I love Uncharted 3 the best by far out of the series. The thing that really hurts the first two games for me is the third act supernatural bullshit that goes on in both those games. In both Uncharted 1 and 2, that crap is just so unneeded and actually takes away from the good human drama. I loved the rivalry between Nate and Flynn in Uncharted 2, but the blue gorilla men killed that drama. The first game was even worse. Here we have this well-told, grounded tale (well, aside from Nate being able to wipe out so many armed enemies. But hey, welcome to video games) of adventure. Then all of a sudden, it takes some janky left turn into survival horror? What? Why? I actually hated the first game for that.

The third game makes you think it's going in that direction, but it just turns out to be a hallucination. It keeps the focus on the human drama between Nate and Sully, and keeps that rivalry with Marlowe and Talbot without adding in some distracting supernatural crap.

The supernatural stuff was just a clear throwback to the Indiana Jones films. Y'know, the primary inspiration for the games -- besides Tomb Raider anyway.

Also my least favorite part of the Indiana Jones series as well. What can I say? I just like it when it's a battle of wits and skill between people. I feel that's where Uncharted shines the brightest.

Well after reading everyone's comments I tried thinking back to how I was feeling when I wrote this post a year ago and I just remember being excited about Uncharted 3 more than Uncharted 2. It was interesting playing both games back to back. Also to be clear, I am not trying to claim Uncharted 3 is the best game ever. I think the series in general is pretty overrated unless you are a big Indian Jones fan. When I was playing both Uncharted 2 and 3 I thought they were both really good, but I also did not understand why people think those games are great. Pretty much everything those games do other games do better, except for the voice acting and dialogue.

When the gaming museum is finally built in NYC and people are asked what did great game x contribute to the larger games media one of the displays will be a kiosk showing the train sequence in Uncharted 2 looping. That was one of the best levels ever in any game and 3 didn't have anything close to that.

Well after reading everyone's comments I tried thinking back to how I was feeling when I wrote this post a year ago and I just remember being excited about Uncharted 3 more than Uncharted 2. It was interesting playing both games back to back. Also to be clear, I am not trying to claim Uncharted 3 is the best game ever. I think the series in general is pretty overrated unless you are a big Indian Jones fan. When I was playing both Uncharted 2 and 3 I thought they were both really good, but I also did not understand why people think those games are great. Pretty much everything those games do other games do better, except for the voice acting and dialogue.

No game has the real time sort of set piece moments that Uncharted does. They are usually relegated to cutscenes in most other games.

Gameplay-wise I like Uncharted 3 much better than 2. I thought the set-pieces were a lot more fun. I still find the Uncharted games very frustrating to play in a way that just clashes with the fun Indiana Jones vibe.

So I finished the first Uncharted again last Saturday, then Uncharted 2 last night (Friday) and played about halfway through Uncharted 3 today. I think that Uncharted 3 so far has been a much more fun game to me. However the one thing that has frustrated me from the first game all the way through is the fact that the enemies take WAY too many bullets to go down.

I also feel that the train level in Uncharted 2 drug on for far too long and lost it's excitement factor for me halfway through.